Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

"Tsarist Russia has always been the poorest country in Europe. Even after Peter the Great's systematic transformation, this has not been fundamentally changed. However, the land and population of the Tsarist Russian Empire have always been the largest in Europe. In the 18th century In the late century, the population of the Tsarist Empire reached 35 million, while France, the second most populous country in Europe, had just exceeded 20 million during the same period."

Just entering the early 18th century, Tsarist Russia successively defeated the Nordic hegemon Sweden and the Central European hegemon Poland through the Northern War, clearing the obstacles to the westward expansion into Central Europe.

Soon the sphere of influence was divided with the Austrian Empire in Poland.

However, this still did not benefit the people at the bottom of Tsarist Russia, because Tsarist Russia was still blindly expanding externally.

This made Tsarist Russia even more impoverished. In order to support the war expenses, they implemented a cruel agricultural system.

Peasants have no land and are burdened with very heavy labor. All the country's surplus output has been expropriated by the state.

Not only that, during the entire 100 years of the 18th century in Tsarist Russia, every peasant household had to produce a man who had to serve the Emperor of Tsarist Russia for 25 years. This is also the reason why so many Tsarist Russian men have not yet married in middle age.

However, the Tsarist Russian army has always been known for its fierce style.

Frederick the Great, the greatest of Prussia, once said of the Tsarist Russian army: "It takes two bullets to kill a Tsarist Russian soldier, one to knock him down, and the other to shoot him in the head again. And use”

The people present listened to Calvin Colin's talk, but they felt pressured by the tenacity of the Tsarist Russian soldiers in his words. How powerful were the Dutch soldiers? Can you compare with them in terms of willpower and ferocity?

"The military service of Tsarist Russia is long and dangerous, but the peasantry is still willing to send the strongest children in the family to serve as soldiers, because in Tsarist Russia, even if they need to go to the battlefield, it is better than staying at home as serfs."

This cruel rule allowed Tsarist Russia to use labor resources almost free of charge, and long-term slavery also made the Tsarist Russian army extremely obedient to the orders of the country's superiors.

Therefore, the army of the Tsarist Empire was ridiculed by the British as the best humanoid animals in the world.

The number of this group of very obedient Tsarist Russian soldiers remained at more than 300,000 all year round in the 18th century, which was roughly equivalent to the combined British and French armies during the same period. "

“Some people in the UK have recently been inspired by this and believe that the UK should learn from Tsarist Russia’s approach, so that the UK’s navy should be the largest in the European continent, and even in the world, build a navy comparable to the combined size of the UK’s second and third countries. The navy is in line with Britain's current status.

Precisely because the Tsarist Russian Army had such a large number and was loyal enough to use, in the Anglo-French struggle for hegemony that was the main line of European international relations in the 18th century, when the two countries formed cliques in Europe, they often formed a situation of even strength. At this time, whoever can win over the Russian Empire will win the diplomatic victory.

For this reason, during the era of Catherine II, the Russian Empire earned itself the reputation of the ‘European Gendarmerie’.

However, countries in Central and Western Europe were originally afraid of France. After Napoleon I was defeated by other countries, the object of fear became Tsarist Russia. Therefore, Tsarist Russia also became the country that countries in Central and Western Europe were most wary of. Even those who seemed to be brothers with them The Austrian Emperor Franz I also stabbed the Tsarist Russian Emperor Nicholas I in the back during the Crimean War, causing Tsarist Russia's final southward strategy to fail. "

So from then on, Tsarist Russia also realized the role of diplomacy and should not act recklessly. So after Alexander II succeeded to the throne, he suppressed the Prussian diplomatic advisers in Tsarist Russia and reused pure Slavs, including Gorcha, the Russian ambassador to France. Kove became the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tsarist Russia, and Tsarist Russia began to implement a two-way development strategy of military diplomacy.

However, Tsarist Russia has already set its sights on the Austrian Empire. To be precise, it has begun to use diplomatic attacks to retaliate against the Austrian Empire."

"Tsarist Russia is our ally, but in any case, the other side does have obstacles to its development. However, there has never been pure friendship and alliance in Europe. When you are weak, you need a stronger backer, just like we did at the Vienna Peace Conference to restore The country also needs the approval of other countries. Only by developing a strong Netherlands can we prevent it from happening again.

Jason Ma, you became the Ambassador of the Netherlands to the Austrian Empire last year. Among all the Dutch diplomatic envoys, you are also relatively young. Let me tell you, what is the situation in Austria where you are? I think others also Same, full of curiosity about the most powerful country in Central Europe."

After Jason Ma nodded, he said: "Among the five major powers in Europe, Austria's strength has weakened from being at the forefront to being almost the same as its former younger brother and new rival Prussia.

In the eyes of various countries, what actually worries Austria the most is not their military strength."

"What is that?" William IV asked again for everyone.

Jason Ma smiled and replied: "It's diplomacy. Austria is most famous for its joint diplomacy. I call it acrobatic diplomacy."

“Acrobatic diplomacy?”

The name intrigued everyone.

"Austria, like Tsarist Russia, is a feudal serfdom country, but the situation in Austria is much more complicated."

Geopolitically, Austria is surrounded by Prussia, a new military power in the north, the mighty Russian Empire in the east, the Ottoman Empire in the south, which is in decline but still has strength, and separated by its closest ally, the Kingdom of Bavaria, in the west, which is almost the same as France. connected.

Within the Austrian Empire, the number of Hungarians and Bohemians is equal to the number of Germans in the Austrian Empire. Any oppressive behavior by the Austrian government is likely to provoke uprisings of other ethnic groups.

The financing capabilities of the Austrian Empire are actually not much better than those of the Tsarist Russian Empire, and are even more worrying.

Economic agriculture was the main focus, and the commodity economy was not worth mentioning in the 18th century. Such a country was basically in the 18th century. Even if it has improved a bit now, it is still difficult to compete economically with Prussia in the north, which has the North German Customs Union as its sphere of influence. Therefore, the Southern Customs League is even tangible, but it is unprofitable and is just a loose alliance.

Such an Austrian empire simply cannot achieve large-scale borrowing, and capital does not believe in their ability to repay debts.

It is precisely because of this that when Austria's military strength and economic strength are difficult to match other powerful countries, if Austria wants to continue to maintain its status as a great power, there is only one option left: if we can talk, we should not do anything.

Austrian monarchs and ministers were excellent diplomats.

During the War of Succession of the Austrian Empire, Empress Theresa used the alliance between the late emperor and the great powers to win over Britain, Russia and other countries to jointly deal with the ambitious Prussia, thus overcoming all the difficulties caused by the internal weakening period.

Not long later, during the Seven Years' War, Prime Minister Kaunitz of the Austrian Empire turned enemies into friends with France, and then invited Tsarist Russia to join the three countries in besieging the Anglo-Prussian alliance, causing Britain to retreat. In order to preserve its strength, the remaining Prussia could only humiliate I respect Austria as my eldest brother.

After arriving in France, Emperor Franz organized Ying and Prussia to besiege France.

Oh my God, except for the nearby Tsarist Russia, which has not yet been dealt with, several other countries have been taken advantage of by them in turn. "